Chromotherapy in the Wellness Park G.F. Novaro in Costarainera (IM)

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RICERCA

De-S ign E nvir onmen t Landscape Cit y 2018 A tti _IV Giorna ta In ternazionale di S tudi sul D isegno RICERCA GENO VA UNIVERSITY PRESS a cur a di Giulia Pellegri

La Giornata di Studi, nata in occasione di Expo 2015, si pone come occasione di confronto e dibattito multidisciplinare nell’ambito di ricerche e pensieri che dalla Rappresentazione si apre a tutte le discipline che coinvolgono l’analisi, lo studio, la valutazione, il progetto, il design, il colore, dell’”Ambiente uomo”.

Il tema della Rappresentazione e delle ricadute scientifiche di tutti quei settori disciplinari che coinvolgono l’ambiente che viviamo, guardiamo, immaginiamo, progettiamo viene affrontata con una giornata di Studi dedicata, presentando le seguenti tematiche: Rilievo e Rappresentazione dell’Architettura e dell’Ambiente; Il Disegno per il paesaggio ,Di-segni per il Progetto: tracce - visioni e pre-visioni, I margini i ,Di-segni della memoria e la città in progress, Cultura visiva e comunicazione dall’ idea al progetto, Le emergenze architettoniche, Il colore e l’ambiente, Percezione e identità territoriale, Patrimonio iconografico culturale paesaggistico: arte, letteratura e ricadute progettuali, Segni e Disegni per il Design e Rappresentazione avanzata. Nell’ambito della Quarta Giornata di Studi, interviene l’architetto Massimiliano Fuksas a testimonianza del valore e del ruolo del “disegno” più specificamente progettuale, con la Lectio Magistralis “Love will save the world _number 4” .

ISBN 978-88-94943-32-0

De_

Sign

Environment Landscape City

a cura di Giulia Pellegri

ATTI

2018

Giulia Pellegri, architetto, è professore associato di Disegno presso il Dipartimento Architettura e Design DAD, della Scuola Politecnica dell’Università degli Studi di Genova.

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De-Sign Environment Landscape City/Di-Segnare Ambiente Paesaggio Città International Drawing Study Day/Giornata Internazionale di Studi

Genoa May 08- 09, 2018/Genova, 08- 09 maggio 2018

Department Architecture and Design DAD/Dipartimento Architettura e Design DAD Polytecnich School of Genoa/Scuola Politecnica dell’Università degli Studi di Genova Scientific Director/Direttore Scientifico

Giulia Pellegri, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Organizing Committee/Comitato Organizzatore

Sara Eriche, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Marina Jiménez Jiménez, Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura Michela Mazzucchelli, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Giulia Pellegri, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Francesca Salvetti, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Michela Scaglione, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Scientific Committee/ Comitato Scientifico

Marta Alonso, Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura

Gianandrea Barreca, Architetto Studio professionale Barreca & La Varra Enrica Bistagnino, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD

Paolo Clini, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Edile e Architettura, DICEA Raffaella Fagnoni, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD

Maria Linda Falcidieno, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Patrizia Falzone, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Massimiliano Fuksas

Marco Gaiani, Alma Master Studiorum Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Architettura Noelia Galván Desvaux, Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura

Manuel Gausa, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Adriana Ghersi, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD

Marco Giovine, Università di Genova, Dipartimento di Scienze della terra, dell’ambiente e della vita DISTAV Marina Jiménez Jiménez, Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura

Adriano Magliocco, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Michela Mazzucchelli, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Giampiero Mele, Università degli Studi eCampus

Giulia Pellegri, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD

Franco Purini, Professore Emerito, Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza” Maria Elisabetta Ruggiero,Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Francesca Salvetti, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Michela Scaglione, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD Antonio Tordesillas, Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura Segreteria organizzativa/Local organizing office

Sara Eriche, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento DAD tel. 010.2095570 Email. giornatadistudi@arch.unige.it Patronage/Patrocinio

Università degli Studi di Genova, Scuola Politecnica di Genova, Dipartimento Architettura e Design; ADDgenova Dottorato in Architettura e Design; Universidad de Valladolid, ETS Arquitectura; Comune di Genova; Ordine degli Architetti Paesaggisti Conservatori e Pianificatori della Provincia di Genova, OAPPC, Fondazione dell’Ordine degli Architetti; Comune di Strevi; Associazione Italiana Architettura del Paesaggio, AIAPP, Valle d’Aosta and Piemonte; Boero; A.I.T.I.V.A Associazione Italiana Tecnici Industrie Vernici ed Affini; Umania_ Knowledge Sharing Improvement, Cts_colorLabCts_culture technology science_Laboratory of Colour

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De- Sign

Environment Landscape City_ 2018

Giulia Pellegri

a cura di

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è il marchio editoriale dell’Università degli Studi di Genova

De-Sign Environment Landscape City International Drawing Study Day Genova, 08- 09 maggio 2018

Dipartimento Architettura e Design DAD, Scuola Politecnica dell’Università degli Studi di Genova

Questo volume contiene contributi sottoposti a blind peer review per la Giornata Internazionale di Studi De-Sign Environment Landscape City, tenuta presso il Dipartimento Architettura e Design dell’Università di Genova, 08- 09 maggio 2018.

AITIVA Associazione Italiana Tecnici Industrie Vernici ed Affini

Stampato presso il Centro Stampa

Università degli Studi di Genova - Via Balbi 5, 16126 Genova e-mail: centrostampa@unige.it

Impaginazione grafica a cura di: Sara Eriche In copertina:

Gli autori rimangono a disposizione per gli eventuali diritti sulle immagini pubblicate. I diritti d’autore verranno tutelati a norma di legge.

GENOVA UNIVERSITY PRESS Piazza della Nunziata, 6 - 16124 Genova Tel. 010 20951558

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ISBN 978-88-94943-32-0 (versione eBook) Finito di stampare dicembre 2018

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CONTENTS/CONTENUTI PREFACE

G. Pellegri

LOVE WILL SAVE THE WORLD N. 4 M. Fuksas

Survey and Representation of Architecture and Environment Rilievo e Rappresentazione dell’Architettura e dell’Ambiente

THE CHURCH OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL IN ITALA (MESSINA). SURVEY, GRAPHIC ANALYSIS, FORMAL AND CONSTRUCTIVE INTERPRETATION M. Arena, D. Colistra

OPEN DATA AND GEOGRAPHICAL SOFTWARE FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF THE TERRITORY

G. Brancucci, V. Marin, P. Salmona

DIDACTICS AND RESEARCH ON THE DRAWING OF A TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARCHITECTURAL COMPONENT. THE PAINTED DECORATIONS, AIMED AT ‘MAKING ARCHITECTURE’, IN THE GENOESE FACADES

P. Falzone

ARCHITECTURE REPRESENTATION.

A PROPOSAL FOR A PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY... OR RATHER IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LEONARDO 500 YEARS LATER

M. Gaiani

SAN SIRO DI STRUPPA IN GENOA, DIRECT SURVEY AND DIGITAL SURVEY. TECHNOLOGIES IN COMPARISON

G. Guidano, M.V. Chiappetta Drawing for the Landscape Disegno per il Paesaggio NEW LANDSCAPES

D. Repetto, G. Fallacara, A. Melis

AGRICULTURE, TOURISM AND HERITAGE AS DEVICES FOR DRAWING THE MEDITERRANEAN LANDSCAPE

G. Tucci

The drawings for the project: tracks visions and previsions I Disegni per il progetto: tracce–visioni e pre–visioni

THREE PROJECTS BETWEEN PORT AND CITY.

SIGNS, DRAWINGS AND MODELS IN THE DIDACTIC PROJECT C. Andriani, D. Servente

DRAWING ARCHITECTONIC CHOICES.

REPRESENTATION AND OPTIMIZATION IN DESIGN PATHWAY F. Bianconi, M. Filippucci, M.Seccaroni

THE AESTHETIC RHYTHM OF PURE FORMS IN MAGNAGHI –TERZAGHI ARCHITECTS’ WORKS

A. Capanna, G. Mele

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9 13 113 125 136 148 163 171 186 198 210 221

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ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL, A VISIONARY ENGINEER WHO CHANGED THE HISTORY OF SHIPBUILDING

M. Corradi

THE DRAWING AS CRITICAL COMPOSITIONAL BASIS OF THE ANALOGICAL METHODS AND OF THE HISTORICAL AND AESTHETIC INSTANCES IN THE THEORIES OF QUATREMÈRE DE QUINCY AND JEAN-NICOLAS-LOUIS DURAND G. Pellegri

DESIGN, A LUCKY MISUNDERSTANDING F. Purini

THE COLOURS OF STEVEN HOLL’S ARCHITECTURE F. Salvetti

DRAWING AS A TOOL FOR EXPRESSING IMAGINARY VISIONS OF REALITY: THE WORKS OF LEBBEUS WOODS

M. Scaglione

Visual Culture and Communication:from idea to project Cultura visiva e Comunicazione: dall’idea al progetto

USER EXPERIENCE – DESIGN INTERFACE – NEW LEARNING TOOLS: EVOLVING AND INVOLVING THE TRADITIONAL TRAINING THANKS TO DESIGN THINKING S.Bernardini

TAKE THE INFORMATION AND CHANGE (YOUR LIFE) (T.I.C.): A NEW METHOD TO LEARN AND LIVE EMOTIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS IN A GIVEN SPACE A. Bertirotti, M. M. Casula

KNOWLEDGE PROCESSES AND CONCEPTUAL PROCEDURES OF REPRESENTATION IN ARCHITECTURE

A. Donelli

VERBAL, VISUAL AND SOUND COMMUNICATION: LANGUAGES IN COMPARISON

M.L. Falcidieno

DIGITAL TRACES AS TOOL OF A HUMAN-CENTRED DESIGN APPROACH A. Licaj

FROM THE VISION TO THE VISUALIZATION M. Malagugini

THE ART OF SAILING AT THE TIME OF STEAMBOATS. CULTURAL AND TERRITORIAL IDENTITY

C. Tacchella

The colour and the environment Il colore e l’ambiente

CHROMATIC TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE ARCHITECTURE AND IN THE LANDSCAPE

P. Burlando, S. Grillo

CHROMOTHERAPY IN THE WELLNESS PARK G.F. NOVARO IN COSTARAINERA (IM)

A. Ghersi

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370 234 251 263 269 277 288 297 307 317 329 335 343 360

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[EXTRA]ORDINARY ARCHITECTURE AND ORDINARINESS RE-EVALUATED WITH COLOUR

M.E. Marini, L.Mazzarri

WHAT IS THE COLOUR OF CLIMATE CHANGE? A. Magliocco, M. Canepa

Perception and territorial identity Percezione e identità territoriale

CITY BRANDING AND ENHANCING A TERRITORY’S IDENTITY M. Cavalieri

THE ROLE OF CONFIGURATIONS IN THE PROJECT SYSTEM. TERRITORIAL IDENTITY THROUGH MATERIAL CULTURE X. Ferrari Tumay

VISUAL PERCEPTION ANALYSIS FOR LANDSCAPE EVALUATION. AN EXPERIMENTAL CASE, CAMPELLO SUL CLITUNNO

M. Filippucci, F. Bianconi, M. Meschini, E. Bettollini FROM THE PERI-PHERY TO THE PARA-PHERY.

NEW LOGICS OF RECORDING AND REPRESENTATION FOR THE URBAN EDGES IN THE TRANSFER OF CENTURIES

M. Gausa, N. Canessa

NOVARA FAIR PAVILIONS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DRAWING AND PREEXISTENCES IN THE ARCHITETTI ASSOCIATI’S WORK

V. Marchetti

DIGITAL CULTURE M.E. Marini

THE STORY OF A CONSTRUCTION SITE, THE RECOVERY OF AN IDENTITY. THE CASE OF ”QUARTIERE GALATA” IN GENOA

D. Pittaluga

lconographic Cultural and Landscape Heritage: art, literature and design effects Patrimonio iconografico – culturale – paesaggistico: arte, letteratura e ricadute progettuali FROM CRUSADES TO REGATTAS. THE REPRESENTATION OF THE FOUR MARITIME REPUBLICS: BETWEEN HISTORICAL EVENT AND COMMUNICATION M. Capurro

SIGNS, DREAMS AND DRAWINGS. PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA AND THE “DISCORRER FOR IMAGES” BETWEEN DREAMS AND REBUS.

IMPRESSIONS FROM CONSTANTINO’S DREAM M. Caraffini

FOR YOUR PLEASURE ONLY. HANDMADE, TAILOR-MADE, CUSTOM-MADE (DESIGN) IN THE CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

L. Chimenz, N. Sorrentino

HERITAGE AND MUSEUMS FOR INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE S. Eriche

VISUAL ARTS, IMAGES AND CULTURE FOR THE CONTEMPORARY YACHT-DESIGN’S DIFFUSION

M.E. Ruggiero

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379 387 396 404 409 421 432 447 456 464 476 482 491 498

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Signs and Drawings for Design Segni e disegni per il design

DELUSIVE SURFACES: THE ART OF MIMICRY AND DISSIMULATION IN DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE

E. Carassale

A GEOMETRIC STUDY OF THE BICA HANDLE P. Magnaghi- Delfino, T. Norando

TRANSLATOR DESIGN, FROM SIGNS TO EXPERIENCES C. Olivastri

Advanced Representation Rappresentazione avanzata

STUDY OF THE HBIM METHODOLOGY BASED ON THE COMBINATION OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND LASERMETRY TECHNIQUES APPLIED TO THE BELMONTE DE CAMPOS CASTLE (PALENCIA)

M. Alonso Rodríguez, M. del Río Muñoz, M. A. Vela Oro

MULTISENSORY INTEGRATION AND INCLUSIVITY IN VISUAL ARTS COMMUNICATION. BLIND USERS AND PERCEPTION OF PERSPECTIVAL PAINTED SPACES

B. Ansaldi

DESIGN A VIRTUAL REALITY APPLICATION: HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WORKS FOR THE DIGITAL WORLDS

C. Battini

VIRTUAL & AUGMENTED REALITY REPRESENTATION. EXPERIENCING THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF A PLACE L. Bollini

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Chromotherapy in the Wellness Park G.F. Novaro

in Costarainera (IM)

Adriana Ghersi

Department Architecture and Design DAD (University of the Study of Genoa) email: aghersi@arch.unige.it

Abstract

Colours have positive psychic and physical effects, that can stimulate our body and calm some

symptoms (physical and mental weakness) helping to find a natural equilibrium. Their effect is widely enlarged when they lay in a site that can facilitate a direct contact with nature. For this reason some interesting experiences refer to chromotherapy in gardens and parks, where the living and changing colours of plants (foliage and flowers) can activate also the senses of touch and smell.

In the Novaro Park, in Costarainera (IM), some themed “rooms” have been realized, to characterize a new Therapeutic Park, re-proposing healing purposes as in the former complex (built in the years ‘30, to treat tuberculosis patients, mainly abandoned in the last decades), that the local Municipality wants to revitalize.

Thanks to a wider process of revaluation, a first experimental “starting tassel” has been opened to public fruition, near the entrance, offering a variety of different new compatible uses in a green area. The therapeutic “rooms” have diverse roles and meanings, from the path of medical plants to the garden of breath, aromatherapy, Bach flowers. One in particular deals with colours: the theme of chromotherapy is narrated, showing the relation among colours, specific parts of the body, functions and benefits (for example: orange stimulates the metabolism and lungs, cures spasms and cramps, restores the balance of nervous system to overcome anxieties and fears), together with food education (five colours diet and edible flowers).

Abstract

I colori hanno effetti psichici e fisici, che possono stimolare il nostro corpo e calmare alcuni sintomi (debolezza fisica e mentale), aiutandoci ari- trovare il nostro naturale equilibrio. Il loro effetto si amplifica in modo rilevante quando si trovano in un luogo che facilita un contatto diretto con la natura. Per questa ragione alcune interessanti esperienze si riferiscono alla cromoterapia in giardini e

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parchi, dove i colori vivi e mutevoli delle piante (fogliame e fiori) possono attivare anche i sensi del tatto e dell’odorato.

Nel Parco Novaro a Costarainera (IM), alcune “stanze” a tema sono state realizzate, per caratterizzare un nuovo Parco Terapeutici, che ripropone finalità curativa, come nel complesso elioterapico originale (costruito negli anni ’30 per la cura della tubercolosi, abbandonato negli ultimi anni), che il Comune vuole rivitalizzare. Grazie ad un più ampio processo di rivalorizzazione, un primo “tassello” di avvio è stato aperto al pubblico, vicino all’entrata, offrendo una varietà di nuovi usi compatibili in un’area verde. Le “stanze” terapeutiche hanno diversi ruoli e significati, dal sentiero delle piante medicinali al giardino del respiro, dell’aromaterapia, dei fiori di Bach. Una in particolare riguarda i colori: la cromoterapia è raccontata, mostrando la relazione tra colori, specifiche parti del corpo, funzioni e benefici (ad es.: arancione stimola il metabolismo e i polmoni, cura spasmi e crampi, ristabilisce l’equilibrio nervoso per allontanare ansietà e paure), insieme al tema dell’educazione alimentare (dieta dei 5 colori e fiori edibili).

Chromotherapy

Colour is energy that can be absorbed by our organism at different levels (physical, chemical, psychical, ..) and through different canals, not only by sight: cutaneous layers and the skullcap are particularly receptive to it. Chromotherapy is based on the healing power of the different colours, that have peculiar wavelengths. As we see a colouyr, our brain interpretes it, and a physiological response activates the cortical centre (associated with memory, attention and perception), interacting with the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system, reducing or stimulating hormone production. In the visible spectrum, the different colours send us vibrational frequences that are able to stimulate reactions in our inner districts, rousing answers at both physical and emotional level1_{. The body is stimulated by colours and colours influence the correct working of various}

functional systems2_{. Chromotherapy dates back to ancient cultures (in Egypt, China and India), to}

cure various diseases. The energy of each of the seven colours of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) can be related to the seven energy centres of the body (chakras). Colour therapy provide balance among all energies in our body. The Egyptian built rooms of colour (the temple of Heliopolis had a quarz crystal in the dome, splitting sunlight into the seven colours, each of which filled a healing chamber, where various coloured glasses, materials and herbs were used to heal people. In 1870s Pleasanton wrote about the positive influence of blue on crop growth,

1_{“Light is responsible for turning on the brain and the body. Light enters the body through the eyes and skin. When even a single photon}

of light enters the eye, it lights up the entire brain. This light triggers the hypothalamus, which regulates all life-sustaining bodily functions, the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, and the pituitary (the body’s master gland). The hypothalamus is also responsible for our body’s biological clock. It also sends a message, by way of light, to the pineal organ, which is responsible for releasing one of our most important hormones, melatonin. The release of melatonin is directly related to light, darkness, colors, and the Earth’s electromagnetic field. This necessary hormone affects every cell in the body. It turns on each cell’s internal activities, allowing them to harmonize with each other and nature. The pineal gland is believed to be responsible for our feeling of oneness with the universe and sets the stage for the relationship between our inner being and the environment. If that relationship is harmonious, we are healthy, happy, and feel a sense of well-being. An imbalance in this relationship makes itself known in the form of disorders or disease in our physical, mental or emotional states. The Pineal is our “light meter”, and receives information from the heavens above, to give us that sense of oneness with the universe, and from the Earth’s electromagnetic field below to keep us grounded. A perfect balance is necessary to maintain our health and to keep us in harmony with the environment” (A. Peterson, Our relationships with light and colour, 2001, http://www.inlightimes.com/2001/02/colour-light.htm).

2_{There is an energetic level at which every organ functions best. Colours generate electrical impulses and magnetic currents or fields of energy} that can activate biochemical and hormonal processes in the human body, to keep us in harmony with nature.

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livestock and human health, and chromotherapy uses coloured lights for the healing of burns, nervous excitability and cutaneous tubercolosis3_{. To understand chromotherapy we need an olistic}

approach, like in Einstein’s theory, where the human body is not the assemblage of chemical parts, but a total, complete system, in harmony with the electromagnetic/energy system of the universe, opposite to Newtonian mechanistic approach.Colours have a deep effect on us. If our energy levels are blocked or depleted, then our body cannot function properly, and this can lead to a variety of problems.Natural therapists use chromotherapy to recover stroke victims and patients affected by chronic depression. Healthcare facilities now tend to borrow colours from nature: the practice of green and biophilic design brings people closer to the healing power of nature’s sights.

Colour Chakra Gland Parts of human body Primary functions Associated element

VIOLET

transcendence

Crown pituitary Brain, central nervous system, hair Connection with the divine light

VIOLET: is relaxing, promotes concentration and meditation, fights pain and fatigue, acts on the spleen, contrasts headaches, rheumatism, neuralgia.

INDIGO

consciousness

Brow pineal Forehead, temples, eyes, ears, sinuses of the nose,

lower part of the head, cerebellum, nervous system

Intuition, extra-sensorial

perception thinking

INDIGO: acts on our senses, it increases the tone of the mood in case of melancholy or light depressive states, it has a strong relaxing power and helps in meditative practices.

BLUE

SPIRIT relief, purification

Throat thyroid bronchi, parotid, shoulders, Throat, neck, jaw, mouth,

arms

Word, expression

of oneself life,

sound, ether BLUE: calming and relaxing, eliminates headaches, decreases blood pressure, is antiseptic and reduces pain.

GREEN

LOVE harmony and reflection

Heart thymus Heart, lungs, circulatory system, immune system,

arms, hands, skin

Devotion, universal love, compassion,

healing air

GREEN: relieves insomnia, headaches, asthma, heart problems and hypertension, stomach and intestine problems, is antibacterial and acts in cases of nervous breakdown

YELLOW

INTELLECT good mood and

happiness

Solar

plexus pancreas

Stomach, small intestine, liver, gall bladder, bile, sympathetic nervous system,

eyes Mental functions power, control, freedom to be oneself, career fire YELLOW: stimulates intellect and concentration, strengthens the immune system, acts on the pancreas, is purifying, treats depression, anorexia and intoxication.

ORANGE

EROS enthusiasm,

optimism

Sacral gonads ovaries, uterus, testicles, Spleen, small intestine,

prostate, urinary system

Emotion, sexuality,

creativity water

ORANGE: stimulates the metabolism, the lungs, cure spasms and cramps, restores balance to the nervous system to overcome anxieties and fears.

RED

MATTER joy, strength and

passion

Root adrenal Legs, feet, bones, kidneys, bladder, large intestine,

reproduction system, nose, teeth, gums

Instinct, survival,

safety earth

RED: stimulates physical and intellectual activity, is euphoric and antibacterial, improves circulation and production of red blood cells, treats acne, burns, dry skin

3_{See the pioneeristic studies by Antonino Sciascia and Niels Finsen, Nobel prize in 2003, for his results about phototherapy to cure tubercolosis.}

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In gardens and parks, the living colours of flowers and foliage can impress our visual memory and interact with different parts of our body, helping to assess our inner balance and to mend physical decline. In the design of some gardens, the use of colours (articulating nuances and tones of different colours) interact with the theory of chromotherapy and other alternative medicine and esoteric studies, from alchimy and numerology to different oriental cultures.

One famous example is the Citroën Park in Paris4_{with the analogical sequence of the “serial}

gardens” associating 6 colours, 6 metals and 6 senses: green/tin/Hearing, blue/copper/Smell, red/ iron/Taste, orange/mercury/Touch, silver/silver/Sight, golden/gold/sixth Sense.

Some interesting gardens of colours create an healing outdoor space for hospitals or healing structures, like the Azul healing garden in MLK Hospital, in Los Angeles, by Dan Corson5_{, where}

the calming blue glass mulch, gray-blue plants, twinkling solar blue lights induce relax, reduce blood pressure, calm breathing and heart-rate, stimulate the parasympathetic system, fighting physical and mental tension.

Colour therapy in the Wellness Park in Costarainera (IM)

Especially in the XIX century, the heliotherapy is considered as a remedy for many cronicle diseases. Numerous travellers (scholars, artists, doctors) find out the therapeutic characters of Ligurian western riviera climate, transforming it in a winter healing place of prililedge beauty and wellness. The clean air is useful to cure respiratory diseases (such as tubercolosis and asthma). The vegetation is transformed, by the insertion of exotic plants, simbols of warm climate and distant sites. At the beginning of the XX century the diffusion of tourism, also related to sea bathing, and some important healing structures are built, surrounded by vaste parks, like the Park Novaro in Costarainera (IM).

The Department of Architecture and Design was charged, by the Municipality of Costarainera, of a scientific advice (under the responsability of the author), to deepen, from the preliminar study approached with the students of Landscape Architecture (University of Genoa, Architecture Faculty, Urban Parks Design Studio 2005-2006, teachers: A. Kipar, A. Ghersi, see: Ghersi, 2007), an attentive analysis of the existing condition of the park and of the relationship between the park and its contest to help the activation of an enhancement strategy.

The complex Novaro- Barellai dates from 1930s, to cure tubercolosis: the buildings are located in a place with a particular mild climate, surrounded by a park (rich in exotic plants, where the patients could sunbathe and breath the clean air) and by a large agriculture terraced property, to ensure food self sufficiency. The continuity among the sanatorium, the formal park and the rural area is fundamental.

Main aim of the project is to restore the therapeutic role of the park, helping to read the story of the heliotherapic complex, proposing new activities for psycho-phisical rehabilitation and wellness, especially by the use of plants, respecting the original structure and linking it to the landscape and

4 _{Designed by Gilles Clément, Alain Provost, Patrick Berger, Jean-Paul Viguer, Jean-François Jodry and realized from 1986 to 1992, after an} international competition in 1982 (I. Cortesi, 2000, pp. 117-125).

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social contest. The first actions can be realized thanks to the Jardival project6_{, to open to public}

fruition a pilot-area, as a wellness therapeutic sensory park, with recreational, didactic-cultural intention, showing different open air natural therapies, to underline the healing meaning of the park. The path of medical plants proposes a serie of plants with healing principles and leads to the the centre of the breath garden, where it is possible to see the main axe of the formal garden, at the other side of the road. Some intervention on the vegetation has opened the view to the sea, offering “sun/air-bathing”. Some plants deal with good breathing (rosemary, mint and thyme, together with existing pines and eucalyptus). A sequence of “rooms”, that are defined by pitosporum hedges, is dedicated to specific therapies, of which the most significant plants are shown (lavender collection, aromatic and fragrant plants for Aromatherapy essential oils, honeysuckle, heater and rosehip in the garden of Bach’s flowers, to transmit the power of harmony; odorous plants for the garden to be smelled, like the curious Coke-smelling artemisia).

The chromotherapy garden refers to the possibility to stimulate our inner reactions by different colours, recreating our psycho-phisical balance. An explanatory panel shows the influence of each colour on different part of the human body, different glands, different chakra.

Again with the help of colours some principles of food education come from the 5-colours diet, an easy way to make children get the habit to eat fruits and vegetables daily. The edible flowers garden, according to the lesson by Libereso Gugliemi (famous “Calvino’s gardener”), suggests the tasting of flowers, that can enrich our feeding, both in the fresh (spiced lavender and calendula, acid begonia, cucumber flavored borage, minty violet) and cooked version (like in traditional Ligurial cuisine, for example: filled zucchini flowers).

Around the cement basement of a demolished glasshouse, the Art/Horticultural Laboratory takes place, becoming an open air classroom for children. On that pavement some little benches have been built, recently covered by an attractive mosaic, by the artist Judith Török (realized with the help of a volunteer group of apprentices), narrating all the therapeutic themes expressed in the park.

An extraordinary place for team-working

The opening of the Park involved many different actors in its realization and management. In the particular atmosphere caused by the place, all the people working on this project got a sense of wellness in the sharing of actions and programs. Volonteers came to learn how to create the artistic mosaic, different local associations participated to the animation of the park, hosting schools and groups or accompanying visually impaired to touch and smell the different species. The park has been selected for Tai Chi outdoor practice, and it is usual to find people walking or using the exercise equipment for fitness, and children enjoying playgrounds around fragrant plants. The most surprising is the natural building up of an affective relation with this special Park and with all the people working as a team for its valorization.

We all hope to be able to convert this positive energy to start the recovery of the whole complex, in the next future.

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Fig.1 Vegetation survey made by the students of the Urban Parks Design Studio, in 2005 (Ghersi, 2007, p. 193), with the main compositive axes and indication of the pilot-area.

Fig.2 Scheme of the healing themes in the pilot-area (didactic mini- orchard, Art/Horticultural Therapy; 5-colours diet, edible flowers; chromotherapy garden; smell garden; Bach’s flowers; aromatherapy; breath garden and medical plants path). Drawning by Anna Sessarego.

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Fig.3 Explanatory panel of chromotherapy garden: the significance of the different parts of the park are told, enriched by other info by a QR code.

Fig.4 Yellow flowers, with a touch of violet.

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Fig.5 Explanatory panel of the garden of edible flowers.

Fig.6 Detail of the mosaic, by the artist Judith Török, in the outdoor classroom of the Novaro Park, made with the help of a volunteer group of apprentices.

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